/
Ch30 - Xu ChengYan is dead
Xu ChengYan is dead.
When He Yang heard the news, there was no reaction, but he patiently listened to the explanation from the person on the other end of the phone.
He Yang didn’t hang up until the person finished speaking.
Chi Yi came over and asked curiously: “Young Master He, what did Yanyan say?”
“Nothing.” He Yang took the wine glass on the table and said calmly, “A boring April Fool’s Day call.”
It’s just an April Fool’s Day prank call.
Finding someone to collude with to act a few lines and say it on the phone as if it were real.
But today was April Fool’s Day.
He Yang put down the wine glass, looked at the cards on the table, and said to the others, “Continue.”
The game on the gaming table continued.
It’s just that in this game, He Yang was a little absent-minded.
Obviously he had all the good cards in his hand, but he still lost the game in the end.
After a few rounds, He Yang lost a lot of chips.
It was already one o’clock in the morning. He Yang got up and said, “I’m going back.”
Chi Yi asked, “It’s already this hour, why doesn’t Young Master He just sleep here?”
Another person playing at the gaming table also joined and urged him to stay: “Yes, XiuZhu is resting on the boat, is Young Master He not staying?”
He Yang just said lightly: “No need.”
He Yang turned around and left the houseboat and went back alone.
When he got back to the apartment, it was pitch dark inside.
Turning on the lights, there was no one in the living room, and the bedroom was the same as when he left in the morning.
He Yang didn’t care, he just lowered his head and loosened his tie.
Everything was still the same as usual.
One less person in the apartment, it didn’t matter.
The next morning, He Yang came to the company.
There was a meeting in the morning, He Yang gave his cell phone to the secretary and said, “Jiang Lin will come later.”
“Okay.” The secretary nodded, and after He Yang left, he continued to sit back to work.
Not long after, Jiang Lin came over.
Jiang Lin was still holding a document and asked the secretary, “Where is my brother?”
The secretary replied, “President He is still in the meeting. It will still take about half an hour.”
Jiang Lin responded with a sound and sat on the sofa to rest, preparing to wait for He Yang to come out.
The secretary poured a cup of hot tea for Jiang Lin and went back to the desk.
But soon, the secretary saw that President He’s cell phone was ringing from an unfamiliar number.
The secretary answered the phone, and when he heard the content on the other side, he was suddenly surprised.
So after He Yang’s meeting was over, he returned to the office and saw that something was wrong on the secretary’s face, and even Jiang Lin, who was next to him, was in a daze.
“What’s wrong?” He Yang asked casually.
“President He, you just got a call.” The secretary handed over the phone and said slowly, “Mr. Xu ChengYan had a car accident yesterday ——”
“Already passed away.”
***
He Yang canceled the afternoon work and bought a plane ticket to Anshi.
Jiang Lin also followed He Yang and they arrived at the hospital.
Under the leadership of the staff, the two finally met Xu ChengYan.
It’s just that Xu ChengYan at this time was already a cold corpse, covered with a white cloth.
Under the white cloth, the burned marks on the corpse could still be seen faintly.
Jiang Lin looked at the corpse in front of him and still couldn’t believe it.
“How is that possible…….” Jiang Lin stretched out his hand tremblingly and lifted the white cloth slightly.
It’s just that the corpse had been burned beyond recognition, and there was not even a complete piece of skin on the face.
Jiang Lin suddenly couldn’t figure it out.
A big perfectly-all-right living person, he was still sending him a message yesterday morning, why was he already gone today?
Jiang Lin opened his mouth and wanted to say something, but he couldn’t say anything, and his throat was a little dry.
After a long time, Jiang Lin recovered his voice and said to the staff next to him: “My friend, he…….. How did he have an accident?”
The staff explained: “It was an accident on Xiaoshan Road yesterday morning.”
Xiaoshan Road, that road over there was inherently unsafe, especially one of the turns, where several traffic accidents had happened before.
In addition, it had just rained in Anshi in the past few days. When the van turned a corner, the tires slipped, and it rolled directly from the mountain road and fell to the bottom of the cliff.
However, the neighborhood was relatively remote, and generally no one passed by, and no one knew what happened.
But unfortunately, not long after the van rolled over, a fuel tanker also went up the hill, and it also rolled over at the same position and exploded directly.
It was also because the explosion of the oil tanker was too loud that someone noticed that there was a car accident on the side of Xiaoshan Road.
But the rescue came too late, and the explosion was too violent. The two people trapped in the van had no time to escape. Together with the tanker driver, a total of three people died on the spot.
“If it had been discovered earlier, the two people in the van might have been rescued, and they could have been rescued before the van exploded……….” The staff felt a little regretful.
Hearing this, Jiang Lin suddenly felt uncomfortable.
The staff said again: “By the way, Mr. Xu ChengYan still has some personal belongings.”
After he said that, the staff went and pushed the small mobile table on the side.
On the table, there was a charred backpack and a watch that was burnt to pitch black, but the phone next to it seemed to be slightly better preserved, but the screen of the phone was broken.
Jiang Lin’s eyes were red and he picked up the phone.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Qf obecv atlr wbylif qtbcf cfjg atf jmmlvfca rlaf. Mbgaecjafis, atf qtbcf lr cba ygbxfc.” Ktf rajoo rjlv, “P jrxfv atf ojwlis wfwyfgr bo atf batfg akb vfmfjrfv sfrafgvjs, atlr wbylif qtbcf rtbeiv yfibcu ab Zg. We JtfcuTjc, jcv kf tjnf jigfjvs mtjgufv la.”
Ktf rmgffc bo atf qtbcf kjr oeii bo mgjmxr, jcv Aljcu Olc ofia j ilaaif tfjns lc tlr tjcv ktfc tf tfiv atf qtbcf.
Yesterday morning, his Sister-in-law still used this mobile phone to send him messages.
But now, nothing was left.
Jiang Lin lowered his head and couldn’t help wiping his eyes.
The staff stood quietly aside, because they had seen a lot and were used to the various emotions of the family members.
The staff thoughtfully handed a pack of tissues to Jiang Lin. Seeing Jiang Lin’s sad expression, he couldn’t help but raise his head and looked at another man in the room.
The tall man in a dark gray suit stood beside the corpse, but his face was indifferent.
The staff secretly looked at this cold-looking man. It was obvious that this man came to claim the body together, but the man hadn’t said a word since he came in.
Even when he saw the miserable appearance of the corpse, there was no emotional fluctuation on the man’s face.
It was as if the dead man had nothing to do with him.
The staff withdrew his attention and didn’t ask anything.
And the man stood beside the corpse and watched for a long time, and then he slowly stepped forward and came to the table.
He Yang looked at the things on the table and picked up the watch.
The watch was still dirty, the dial was broken, and the strap was cracked in the middle.
And the time of this watch was stopped at half past ten for forever.
The watch had already been burnt to black, but He Yang still recognized that it was a birthday present he gave Xu ChengYan before.
He Yang looked at the watch and suddenly shouted: “Jiang Lin.”
He Yang rubbed his fingertips on the dial and gently asked, “Is today April Fool’s Day?”
Jiang Lin’s mood was still a little heavy, after he was silent for a while, he replied, “No.”
April Fool’s Day had passed.
He also hoped it was an April Fool’s Day’s joke.
Jiang Lin put down the phone and took the backpack next to him.
There were still a lot of small things in the backpack, and the wallet and documents were still inside.
But Jiang Lin still couldn’t believe it, so he couldn’t help asking the staff: “The dead person……..is it really Xu ChengYan?”
“Yes.” The staff nodded, “Although the surveillance camera in the driveway is broken, but Mr. Xu was recorded by the surveillance camera when he got into the car.”
At that time, the surveillance footage was that Xu ChengYan got into the driver’s car, then went to the village, went directly through the middle of the village to take a shortcut, and then went up the Xiaoshan road.
Although there was no surveillance camera in the village, and the surveillance camera on Xiaoshan Road was broken, it could still be determined from the surveillance camera in the town that it was indeed Xu ChengYan.
Moreover, the number of deaths in the end could match the images captured by the town’s surveillance camera. In the surveillance camera, Xu ChengYan sat in the front passenger seat and set off together with the driver.
When the police finally dealt with the accident scene, they found two bodies in the van.
The staff: “If you are going to claim the body now, please follow the procedure.”
While Jiang Lin was just pondering to answer, he just heard the man’s cold voice ——
“Not claiming.”
Jiang Lin was stunned for a moment. He looked at the man subconsciously, and called out with some doubts: “Brother?”
He Yang looked at the cold dead body and said slowly: “He is not Xu ChengYan.”
The staff was stunned, and quickly explained: “There is Mr. Xu’s ID card in the things left there, and the surveillance camera in the town can also prove that Mr. Xu got into the car…….”
“If necessary, the family can also provide DNA samples, and the hospital can do the identification.” The staff said.
He Yang still looked indifferent and said, “There is no sample, I will not provide it.”
“Brother!” Jiang Lin on the side became a little anxious, and quickly pulled He Yang’s arm, and hurriedly said: “What’s wrong with you?!”
But the expression on He Yang’s face remained the same, looking at this burned corpse with no skin, it was like looking at a stranger.
He Yang: “It’s not Xu ChengYan who died.”
The staff had no choice but to say, “If the family refuses to claim it, the unnamed body will be handled by the police.”
“It’s up to you.”
He Yang still had a casual attitude and turned to leave.
When He Yang returned to the hotel, it just started to rain outside.
He Yang sat on the chair by the window and looked out the window.
From this perspective of the hotel window, one could see the entire ancient town.
He Yang listened to the sound of the rain, still looking indifferent. He took out his laptop and started to work.
Jiang Lin was still at the hospital, and went through the body claim procedure alone, and didn’t come back until evening.
Jiang Lin took the formal documents, and as soon as he entered the room, he saw the man by the window.
The man was facing the laptop screen, probably handling his work.
Jiang Lin walked over slowly, looked at the man in front of him, and said, “I will go to the funeral home tomorrow.”
“I prepare him to be cremated.” Jiang Lin’s voice was a little choked up.
But the man just raised his head casually and said casually: “Can’t even see his face clearly, who knows if he is the one who died.”
Seeing He Yang’s attitude, Jiang Lin got a little angry and annoyed, he said: “But those things are all Sister-in-law’s! The surveillance camera also captured it!”
“Then, he is really dead.” He Yang nodded, looked away again, and continued to work.
Jiang Lin looked at the indifferent man in front of him, and suddenly felt a little unfamiliar.
Sister-in-law was dead.
But his brother just sat here and didn’t react at all. He couldn’t see the slightest bit of sadness at all.
Jiang Lin couldn’t stay any longer, and he silently returned to his room.
The next morning, Jiang Lin went to the hospital and then to the local funeral home to arrange the cremation of the body.
Everything was done by Jiang Lin alone.
Jiang Lin took the things left by Xu ChengYan and confirmed the cremation time with the funeral home.
And He Yang was in the hotel all the time, working on the laptop without even asking about the progress.
Jiang Lin told He Yang the time and location of the cremation, but He Yang just responded without raising his head, and didn’t say whether he would go or not.
On the day the body was cremated, it rained again.
When Jiang Lin went to the funeral home, he happened to meet the family of the van driver who also came to cremate the body.
The family members of the driver came with a large group of people, and everyone had solemn expressions on their faces and silent tears.
On Xu ChengYan’s side, Jiang Lin was the only one here.
Jiang Lin lowered his head, his eyes were already red.
The parting came too suddenly, and he wasn’t ready yet.
He was still waiting for his Sister-in-law to come back to give him stamps, and he still wanted to eat the meal that his Sister-in-law made. And, he also thought about planning to be the best man when his Sister-in-law and his brother got married.
But now, there was nothing.
Even when he was cremated, his brother didn’t come.
Not worth it.
Really not worth it.
***
He Yang did not go to the funeral home, but went to the inn where Xu ChengYan stayed by himself.
The owner of the inn still reserved Xu ChengYan’s room, waiting for the family to come to take care of the aftermath.
“That young man is very good, it’s a pity……..” The owner of the guesthouse still had an impression of Xu ChengYan.
“He’s tall and thin, he should still be a college student, right?”
“When he left that morning, he greeted me and said that he would be back in the evening. Who knew something would happen……”
The owner of the guesthouse muttered all the way while leading He Yang to the room.
When He Yang entered the room, he could still feel the breath of life in the room ——
The coat was hanging on the coat rack, the pajamas were neatly folded by the bed, and the charging cable for the phone was still on the table.
On the table, there was still half of the water in the cup, which should be because the owner of the room had not had time to drink it when he woke up in the morning.
He Yang remembered that Xu ChengYan was accustomed to drinking a glass of water every morning, saying that it would keep him healthy.
Although he was only in his twenties, he was always living an old age.
He also loved spending time on the flowers and plants on the balcony, and there were more and more potted plants he bought.
He Yang walked over, opened the suitcase in the corner of the room, and started packing.
There were not many things, so He Yang put away his clothes and put the stamps in the suitcase.
But while tidying up the table, He Yang found a wooden tag in the corner.
He Yang picked up the wooden sign and saw a line of words written on it ——
【May XianSheng be safe year after year.】
He Yang recognized it as Xu ChengYan’s handwriting.
This handwriting was as gentle as the owner of the room.
He Yang put the wooden tag in the suitcase and returned to the hotel with the things.
He Yang put the suitcase on the wall at will, and didn’t care anymore, and went back to the table to deal with the work.
When Jiang Lin came back from the funeral home, he saw that He Yang was still the same as usual.
He Yang’s face was still so indifferent.
It was as if Xu ChengYan’s death had no effect on him.
“Brother.” Jiang Lin walked over and couldn’t help but asked aloud, “Why didn’t you answer Sister-in-law’s phone call that day?”
He Yang asked casually, “What call?”
Still seeing He Yang with that indifferent attitude, Jiang Lin suddenly felt a little angry.
“He called you that day! You didn’t answer!” Jiang Lin took out his Sister-in-law’s phone.
He originally wanted to see if the phone was broken, but he accidentally flipped to the dialler interface and saw the call log of the last day at a glance. The last call was to his brother.
But when he clicked into the record, he found that the call was not connected at all!
“Just this phone call! He called you when the accident happened!” Jiang Lin’s tone became more and more agitated.
And He Yang also looked over this time. He took the phone, and saw the call log.
He Yang frowned slightly, then took out his phone and flipped through the call log, only to see Xu ChengYan’s missed call.
But he had no impression of that call.
“Maybe I was too busy.” He Yang put the phone aside, “I forgot.”
“What are you busy with?! You were playing outside with Chi Yi and the others that day!” Jiang Lin said more and more excitedly, “If you answer this call, Sister-in-law might have a chance to survive!”
If someone discovered the car accident at that time, or helped report the police, maybe they could save people before the tanker explodes!
If only it was a little earlier.
“Why didn’t you answer the phone that day?!” Jiang Lin almost shouted, as if to vent.
The expression on He Yang’s face became cold, “Jiang Lin.”
“He was already dead.” He Yang’s tone was still so indifferent, “It’s useless for you to say this now.”
Jiang Lin was startled. For some reason, he couldn’t believe that these words came out of He Yang’s mouth.
Obviously, Sister-in-law and his brother had been together for five years.
Five years……..
Jiang Lin suddenly felt a little sad.
His sister-in-law was so nice…….
But for such a nice person, his brother had this attitude.
Not even a single tear.
“Yeah…….” Jiang Lin became a little dazed. He whispered in a low voice, “It’s useless to talk to you……..”
His brother always looked like this, aloof and remote, and he didn’t care about the people next to him.
“Aren’t you going to make a bet with Chi Yi and the others when Sister-in-law will come back?” Jiang Lin held the urn and said slowly, “Now Sister-in-law is back.”
Jiang Lin put the urn on the table and said coldly: “He’s right here.”
Exactly right in this box.
All that was left was a pile of ashes, and he would never come back.
***
After returning from Anshi, Jiang Lin bought a burial plot for Xu ChengYan and prepared for burial.
Almost all the aftermath matters were handled by Jiang Lin, and he didn’t know where He Yang went since the first day they came back.
It was estimated that he was fooling around with Chi Yi and the others.
Jiang Lin didn’t bother to care anymore, so he just arranged a good cemetery for Xu ChengYan.
Jiang Lin stood in front of the tombstone holding a flower and looked at the black and white photo on the tombstone.
The young man in the photo was smiling, and his appearance was still a little young and inexperienced.
And this photo was a photo of Xu ChengYan when he was a freshman.
Xu ChengYan went too suddenly, and he usually did not take any photos, only the photos in his freshman year could be found.
Jiang Lin leaned over slowly and placed the flowers in front of the tombstone.
There was no one else in the cemetery, and Jiang Lin stood alone in front of the tombstone.
Until now, Jiang Lin had not eased up.
Sister-in-law left so suddenly, and without even a decent funeral ——
Because no one would come.
Xu ChengYan was an orphan and had no relatives. The only person closest to him was He Yang.
But now, He Yang didn’t even take a look.
He didn’t even ask where the cemetery was.
***
In the private room, the bar.
He Yang squinted and half leaned on the sofa, a little lazy.
A person next to him came over and asked, “What’s wrong with you, Young Master He? I haven’t seen you in the past few days?”
He Yang said calmly, “I went to Anshi.”
“Why did you suddenly go there? Did you have fun?”
“It’s okay.” He Yang said casually.
Chi Yi was also in the private room. He asked, “Does Young Master He want to go with me somewhere to play tomorrow?”
“The newly bought villa has just been renovated, we can play as we please, and XiuZhu said he will go too.” Chi Yi said, “I will also call Yanyan at that time.”
Another person nodded and said, “Right, Young Master He, call Yanyan.”
“Yes, yes, yes. I haven’t seen Yanyan for a long time! Call him, call him!”
A group of people were like watching the excitement. Anyway, Shen XiuZhu would be going tomorrow, so they asked He Yang to also bring Xu ChengYan with him.
Everyone knew that Xu ChengYan was just a substitute, but they just wanted to see how embarrassed this substitute would be in front of the real master.
And He Yang heard them, and then he said: “He won’t go.”
Chi Yi didn’t care, and said casually: “Yanyan was having a tantrum?”
He Yang: “He’s dead.”
Chi Yi thought that the two of them were having a quarrel, and that’s why He Yang said that Xu ChengYan was dead. Then, he asked, “What’s wrong? Is this a quarrel or did he make you angry?”
He Yang: “He died in a car accident.”
Chi Yi was stunned for a moment, and subconsciously said: “He is really dead?”
The others in the private room were also surprised for a moment and fell silent.
But soon, the private room resumed its liveliness.
“When did he die?” someone asked.
“April 1st, he died that day.” He Yang was drinking the wine.
At this time, someone reacted and immediately said: “Isn’t that the last day of Young Master He’s bet? It’s strange!”
“M-hm.” He Yang responded.
“Did Yanyan die in a car accident?” Another person couldn’t help but shake his head and sighed, he said: “Be careful when you drive in the future. Don’t die.”
Chi Yi joined the conversation: “Indeed, you have to be careful when driving. If you suddenly die someday, it’s really not worth it.”
Several rich second-generation young masters started chatting and talking nonsense, the jeers and laughter sounded from time to time in the box.
He Yang drank the wine and his fingertips tapped casually on the armrest.
The matter of Xu ChengYan’s death seemed to be just a casual mention of him.
Others also talked about other topics from the news of Xu ChengYan’s death.
As for Xu ChengYan ——
No one cared, and no one was concerned or interested.
However, at the end of the party, a rich second-generation young master leaned on He Yang’s shoulders and couldn’t help but ask, “Young Master He, what about the bet you said last time?”
Someone next to him immediately said, “Yanyan is dead, then this game doesn’t count.”
“Yes.” That rich second-generation young master nodded, and said with some regret: “He actually died……”
He Yang left the bar and went back to the apartment.
The apartment was still dark, and no one turned on the light for him.
He Yang won this game.
That gentle-looking young man stayed on the fifth day forever.